When will the world wake up to water scarcity?

A rusted shopping cart lies on a sandbank of the Rhine, near Bonn, Germany on August 16, 2022. According to UN data, droughts are becoming more common and three quarters of people are expected to face water scarcity by 2050. ReutersShow less

The Middle East is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change; countries such as Yemen, Syria and Iraq are experiencing demonstrable – and dangerous – levels of drought and desertification. However, the region’s particular reliance on water predates global warming by millennia, something that is strongly reflected in its culture.

Depictions of water abound in classical Arab literature and ma’a – the Arabic word for water – has spiritual and cultural significance. It is a source of life and prosperity. Just this week, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed has called for rain prayers to be held in all mosques in the Emirates on Saturday, a tradition that is performed in Muslim-majority countries when rainfall is delayed.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, the issue of water – or rather the lack thereof – was highlighted this week at the Cop16 UN summit to combat desertification being held in Saudi Arabia. The country’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, yesterday announced plans to set up an international Global Water Organisation that will be based in Riyadh and the hashtag “united for water” is widely circulating on social media in the kingdom. These are notable developments because the dangers posed by desertification, drought and land degradation are simply not getting the global attention they deserve.

President Sheikh Mohamed initiates an effort to address global water scarcity

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A key reason for this was outlined by Dr Osama Faqeeha, Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, who told The National this week that “many people think combating desertification is a challenge for arid countries”. On the contrary, it is a problem with global ramifications. In September, the World Economic Forum cited UN data that claims 100 million hectares of productive land are degraded each year, droughts are becoming more common and three quarters of people are expected to face water scarcity by 2050.

More worryingly, the World Wildlife Fund last year published the first ever annual estimate of the economic value of the world’s water and freshwater systems. It found them to be worth $58 trillion – equivalent to 60 per cent of global GDP. The continuing degradation of rivers, lakes, wetlands and aquifers – many of which are found in non-arid countries – threatens the worldwide economy and poses profound problems for human and planetary health.

Water scarcity and drought undermine food security and fuel forced migration. Conflict over dwindling water resources is another reality to faced – the Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology website lists thousands of disputes and violent clashes over water resources that go back as far back as ancient Sumaria.

Just as climate finance was at the heart of the recent Cop29 summit in Baku, funding ways of stopping or reversing desertification should command the attention of policymakers

Just as climate finance was at the heart of the recent Cop29 summit in Baku, funding ways of stopping or reversing desertification should command the attention of the policymakers meeting in Riyadh. The UN says investment in nature-based solutions must increase more than twofold, to reach at least $542 billion by 2030 and Dr Faqeeha wants businesses to move more quickly to fill the finance gap and tackle the effects of drought.

Given their intimate appreciation of water’s importance, countries in this region have much to share with the world when it comes to these issues. The UAE, for example, has invested significantly in not only encouraging rainfall through cloud seeding but also works hard to conserve and recycle its existing water supplies. Next year, Dubai will complete a 27.2 million litre Aquifer Storage and Recovery project for desalinated water.

For generations, the people of the Middle East have treasured water. If more of the world can emulate this connection, global society will be one step closer to avoiding the worst-case scenario of a desiccated, arid planet.